There is currently a heated debate as to where Somalia 's fledgling Transitional National Federal Government (TNFG) should re-locate to after leaving Nairobi , Kenya , where it has been situated since its formation nearly six months ago. Due to security considerations, the TNFG has actually decided to move, for the time being, to a more peaceful place inside our homeland, namely, to the cities of Baidoa and Jowhar, instead of chaotic Mogadishu . As a Somali citizen and a former Deputy Mayor of Mogadishu , I wholeheartedly support this decision, and I've on several occasions advocated, on the BBC Somali Service and other forums, that the TNFG should not go back to Mogadishu at the present time. I'm still of that opinion for reasons that I'll enumerate later on.

Down town Mogadishu before the Civil war

However, before I explain why lawless Mogadishu cannot be the seat of our central government, let me make, as a preface, an important point. Contrary to what some misinformed, fanatical and tribal-minded people think, modern Mogadishu was not built with the gold, diamond, petroleum and other enormous natural wealth it posses, because it has none of that. (Because of this seriously flawed misconception, some of these fanatics believe both Mogadishu and its natives are superior to the rest of Somalia 's people and its cities. This explains why Somalia 's first president, after the collapse of Siad Barre's regime, the former hotelier, Ali Mahdi, was said to have replied when asked why he had unilaterally installed himself as President in January 1991 upon Barre's sudden departure: “We control Mogadishu which is the most important place, and I don't care about the rest of the country.” But Mogadishu actually prospered   because, in the first 30 years of Somalia 's independence, we, the Somalis of all clans, had poured all our wealth – both public and private, as well as financial and human – into that city to the detriment of other cities and regions of the country. Simply put, we were practically a one city State and we tried to develop Mogadishu and to equip it with   all the necessary infrastructure of a modern state while basically neglecting the rest of the country's other cities and towns. And mind you, most of the wealth with which we built Mogadishu were funds that we obtained from other nations either as donations or loans which future generations of Somalis will have to struggle with repaying them for years to come. (At present, the foreign debts of penniless Somalia stand at a staggering US $2.688 billion, a good part of which was spent by the previous governments on Mogadishu and its basic infrastructure like its modern sea port which has remained idle for years due to the infighting between the city's warlords).

Mogadishu - today

On the other hand, there may have been many issues and crimes with which to fault the former Somali governments, particularly the regime of Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre, but nobody in his right mind can deny that these successive administrations invested a lot in Mogadishu, greatly modernized it, and when they were in power and there was law and order in the country, that city was as good as any capital in sub-saharan Africa. Not so today. And if you want to understand the point I'm driving home, talk to some people who have visited that ruined city lately (I haven't been there for 15 years and I wouldn't visit today's Mogadishu even if I was offered a million dollar!) Even if they don't talk about anything else, you'll be deeply saddened when you hear their horror stories about the terrible potholes in the city's road system which has so badly deteriorated as a natural consequence of the civil war and for lack of proper maintenance for 15 years, together with check-points installed at every few meters and manned by heavily armed, drug addicted thugs who extort money from innocent civilians – something that makes driving in that anarchic city a very nightmarish experience. Add to this the countless number of ministries, schools, clinics and other important public buildings which are being occupied by armed militias or destitute squatters. The destruction of   this once beautiful city even reached, at one point, the level that some hooligans constantly dig up telephone and electricity lines in order to recover a few copper wires from them and then sell them for a few shillings in what passes in the Mogadishu jungle as Bakara markets where Somali diplomatic passports, Kalashnikov guns, kat, foodstuffs and clothes are usually sold side by side in the same store. A few warlords and traders may have prospered in the past 15 years, but the overwhelming majority of its inhabitants are jobless and now live in abject poverty as well as total insecurity.

To go back to the main point that I was raising, Mogadishu was built with all the funds that we had begged or borrowed from other countries and poured into it at the expense of other cities and towns in Somalia . Let me give a few examples: the first modern and biggest general hospital in the country, i.e., Digfer, was built in Mogadishu in the 1960s with funds from the European Union (EU); Banadir Maternity & Children's Hospital was financed by the Chinese; the National University (with all the major departments or faculties of a modern university) together with its teaching staff was funded by the Italian Government; the huge, imposing headquarters of Somalia's Police Force was constructed by Germany; the Milk Processing Factory was set up by the Soviets; the National Theatre and Mogadishu Sports Stadium were both funded by the Chinese; Gamal Abdel-Nasser Secondary School (one of the best in the whole country) was established and run by the Egyptians; and the biggest and most beautiful mosque in the country was built by   Saudi Arabia in the heart of Mogadishu. Regarding the private sector, the biggest investments in business and high-rise, modern office and residential buildings were made by businessmen like: Mr. Jirdeh Hussein, Abdillahi Omaar and Ibrahim Unlaye   who hail from Hargeisa and Bossaso in self-declared Somaliland and Puntland, or even ex-Yemeni Arabs, at the time when Mogadishu was a cosmopolitan city and not a tribal fiefdom. In this regard, the natives of Mogadishu used to benefit a great deal from their city being the seat of government, because this used to create a countless number   jobs for them and generate income for them from renting houses and from selling all kinds of goods and foodstuffs to the   hundreds of thousands of Somali citizens who came from all over the country as well as a great number foreign embassies, diplomats and other expatriates.

Let me give another example. As some of us may still remember, Mogadishu , like the rest of Somalia 's major cities and towns, had no a running water system until about 30 years ago. Earlier, in 1970, soon after Siad Barre came to power, I went to the United States, as a member of a delegation from Somalia's Water Development Agency, led by its then General Manager, Mr. Mohamed Anshur Hassan – one of the finest and most experienced Somali engineers – to negotiate with the U.S. Government a loan to finance a project for the construction of a modern water supply system for Mogadishu. Our mission was successful and a few years later, Mogadishu had   - for the first time in Somalia 's history - a very modern, dependable system for the supply of badly needed fresh potable water to its inhabitants. At that time, had the Somali Government said we would like this new water system to be installed in another city like Hargeisa, Bossaso, Galcaio, Belet Weyn, Merca, Baidoa or Kismayu, etc., the American Government would have obliged, because this was a loan to be later repaid to them and they didn't care where the Somali Government would spend it.

The city that we, all Somalis, have worked so hard to build and modernize now   lies in ruin because of the senseless, devastating and seemingly never-ending civil war that has engulfed our unlucky country for the past 14 years. That is why I strongly believe that it cannot be the seat of any central government, at least for the time being.   I, therefore, advocate that the new Somali Government should relocate to a more peaceful city like Baidoa, Balet Weyn or Jowhar for the following reasons:            

(1)    At present, Mogadishu (better known as Xamar in Somali) is the worst city in the country in terms of security and it is too dangerous and lawless to be the seat of any viable national government. It was just a couple of months ago when the Chief of Police of that city, a foreign BBC female producer and a women social worker were all murdered over there. Again, a recent rally at the Mogadishu Sports Stadium, in which the new Prime Minister of Somalia, Mr. Ali Ghedi, was targeted with a bomb blast. Up to this moment, we have no the slightest clue as to who did these heinous acts and why. Can any sensible person feel safe in a city like that? The new President of Somalia, Mr. Abdullahi Yusuf, is absolutely right in refusing to go to Mogadishu for the time being, otherwise he would be committing suicide. He simply cannot count on the empty promises of the notorious, self-seeking warlords and faction leaders of Mogadishu .

(2)    Mogadishu always remaining Somalia 's capital is not something written in the holy Koran or cast in stone. At independence in 1960, all Somalis – both in the North and South – agreed to that, because it was a good city with total security and ample infrastructure. Today,   Mog., as we used to call it affectionately, is neither of that.

(3)         Somalia 's current Charter does say that Mogadishu is the capital of the country, but it does not specifically prohibit the capital to be temporarily moved to a more peaceful location inside the country, if circumstances warrant. In my opinion, a small peaceful Somali village – let alone a big city like Baidoa, Jowhar or Belet Weyn -   is better, today, than lawless Mogadishu .

(4)         The new Government does not say that they will change the capital permanently. It's just a temporary arrangement till security is restored to Mogadishu .   The promise of those notorious, selfish warlords – mentioned above - who are saying   they will do just that cannot be trusted, because, if they couldn't even set up a functioning local government in Mogadishu in the past 14 years, who can guarantee now that they could disarm the various other militias over whom they have no control, whatsoever?

(5)         A city which is being claimed by one clan as its property, where Somali citizens could be killed, kidnapped or their property taken away simply with total impunity,   simply because they belong to a different clan, cannot be the national capital. As a former Deputy Mayor of Mogadishu , which I loved and worked very long hours, at times late into the night or during the week-ends, to serve it with total loyalty and dedication, I don't really feel that it is my capital city anymore. Just take another concrete example: About 17 years ago, I bought a house near the old airport of Mogadishu (now closed for many years due to serious disagreements between the city's warlords) with the money I had earned from my work here in Saudi Arabia . Today, a guy who comes from Dhusamareb city, Galgudud region (central Somalia ), is occupying my property after taking it over by force during the mayhem of 1991. He says he liberated it. Liberated it from what or whom? This is looting, pure and simple, and not liberation, and I'll, inshalla , get back my rightful property one day when law and order is restored to my former capital city.

(6)         The above example also illustrates the main reason why some of Somalia's warlords and their misled tribesmen don't want peace and a functioning central government in our homeland, because they are economically benefiting from the anarchy currently prevailing in southern Somalia and, through this, they gain more power and privilege. They have moved from their arid lands near Hobyo and Dhusamareb cities and are occupying today the houses, shops, farms and other properties of other people, from Mogadishu all the way to Kismayu (in Lower Juba region). If a real central government comes into existence, they will definitely have to restore all these properties to their rightful owners. On the other hand, I can understand when a semi-illiterate, ex-driver like Muse Sudi Yalow (who, because of the irrational new system of allocating ministerial portfolios mainly on tribal basis, is Somalia 's new Minister of Commerce) and who, I presume, was born in the Mogadishu area, claims that the city belongs to him. But I can neither understand nor accept it when the other semi-illiterate, former driver, who goes by the name of Osman Ato (the new Minister of Public Works), and who had played a pivotal role in initiating the country's civil war and destruction of Mogadishu, makes the same claim, although he hails from far away Hobyo in Mudug region (my own region, too), central Somalia. (To me, the real owners of Mogadishu are the natives with fair complexion, known in Somali as: reer Xamar,   who started it and lived there in peace for centuries but are now outnumbered and marginalized by the nomads who used to inhabit in the surrounding areas).    

(7)   Countries do change their capitals for a variety of reasons, and it is not necessary that the largest or the most prosperous city should be the capital.   For instance, both Nigeria and Tanzania have recently changed their capitals to Abuja and Dodoma .   Earlier, both Pakistan and Brazil had changed theirs to Islamabad (the City of Islam ) and Brasilia , respectively. Again, Lagos and New York are much bigger and wealthier than Abuja and Washington , DC , the capitals of Nigeria and the United Stated, respectively. Even Saudi Arabia changed its capital some time ago from Mecca , the holiest city in Islam, to Riyadh which is more centrally located.

(8)         Often capitals are chosen because they are more centrally situated in the country concerned and/or they are far away from the sea (for fear of being easily attacked by huge ships in case of war). Obviously, Mogadishu does not fulfill either of these two criteria. And it is no pure coincidence that world capital cities, such as, Abuja, Accra, Beijing, Berlin, Brasilia, Cairo, Canberra, Damascus, Dodoma, Islamabad, Jakarta, London, Madrid, Moscow, Nairobi, New Delhi, Ottawa, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, Santiago (Chile), Washington, etc., are not situated on the sea shore. Besides, Mogadishu has been destroyed and messed up on a large scale in the last 15 years by the same clans who were claiming that they own it and it will basically have to be re-built from scratch. So, in the long-run, the political capital may have to be moved from Mogadishu , to be appropriate place, while it could remain as Somalia 's main commercial city.   

In this connection, had we not regrettably poured all our resources and development efforts into one city only, namely, Mogadishu - or put all our eggs in one basket, as the proverbial wisdom warns against - we would, perchance, have saved some of that from the ravages of the civil war which was particularly very intense in this city. Imagine if some of the faculties or departments of the ex-National University of Somalia were built in Hargeisa, Bossaso, Galcaio, Belet Weyn, etc. Perhaps they would have been saved and not totally destroyed by the heavy artillery of the power-hungry Gen. Farah Aideed or taken over by some wretched squatters. Incidentally, Somalia's civil war had some unintended positive consequences, in the opinion of some experts, because some of the more peaceful regions, particularly those that were able to establish functioning administrations, such as self-declared Somaliland and the autonomous region of Puntland, had witnessed a great deal of re-construction and economic development.

I visited Hargeisa a couple of years ago (the only Somali territory I've seen in 15 years) and I was amazed at the level of construction, business activities and investments that were, unlike lawless Mogadishu , going on (mostly through remittances from Somalilanders in the Diaspora). I was told that Hargeisa   had not seen anything like that in the previous 50 years or so. I was also told that peaceful Bossaso, the business capital of Puntland, is now booming and is attracting business and people with all kinds of skills and talents from all over Somalia . Even my own hometown, Galcaio, has experienced a lot of progress in the past 14 years and it has now a running fresh water system for the first time in its history; the construction of another branch or a new campus for the State University of Puntland is now underway in Galcaio (I myself made   some contribution to its development by building over there a 5-star hotel, by local standard, of course!). Bossaso, Hargeisa and Amoud   had   already created their own universities.

This clearly shows that, in the age of internet and high technology, educated, patriotic, peace-loving and law-abiding citizens are the best asset that a country or a region can have today, irrespective of its other natural resources (Japan which now boasts the second biggest economy in the world after the USA, despite being comprehensively defeated in the 2 nd World War, has practically no natural resources worth mentioning). And no country will be built by the kind of illiterate, very poor ex-nomadic tribesmen who now populate Mogadishu and whose only skill is brandishing lethal weapons to threaten innocent people, terrorize them, kidnap them, extort money from them or loot their property and rape their women. I often wonder whether these primitive men and their immoral bosses, the Mogadishu warlords, have ever heard about Prophet Mohammed's hadith (saying) to the effect that the greatest crime one can commit in this world is: to take away – without   legitimate reasons - a fellow Muslim's life, his property or personal honor.

Finally, from Somalia 's tragic experience of the past 15 years, we now realize that terrible disasters, like civil wars, can bring forth the real quality of some people or communities. This is so because many Somalis have proven in practical terms that they can do without Mogadishu , establish functioning and more prosperous administrations in their peaceful regions and develop them, both politically and economically speaking. We also realize now that such calamities can, through the mysterious ways or plans of God almighty, result in unintended, positive consequences. But this would be the topic for another article, another day.

Dr. Mahamud  M. Yahye
(Former Deputy Mayor of Mogadishu)
Jeddah , Saudi Arabia

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